The passage below, from a review by moral philosopher Jeremy Waldron of books on “nudging” by policy theorist and sometimes practitioner, Cass Sunstein, made me wonder if critical and creative thinking could be the training Waldron laments missing out on. He wishes that he could be a “better chooser” rather than someone who needs to be nudged by policy-making authorities or goods-selling marketers.

Using games in education is becoming more popular due to the resulting benefits. Playing games to learn different skills has many benefits without any negative consequences of real life circumstances. This has been demonstrated through the game ‘spill’ played in over 750 schools, allowing students to clean-up the city using business and problem solving skills without any risk as opposed to real-life situations (Elkin, 2011). Using life-like simulations, teachers can monitor and comment on students actions in given circumstances. This method of teaching is beneficial in preparing students for probable work situations.

Objective Games

Additionally games can be very motivational for students when including tasks and objectives. Everyone loves to play games and children are no exception and according to Howell they are highly engaging and motivating for students (2013, p. 216). When incorporating mundane tasks into game formats, students are likely to increase their focus and…

After prolonged research and experiments on the subject; scientists have found out that there are cognitive benefits of brain games and they exert positive effects on the learning brains of children. Considering the requirements of parents looking to foster their loved children, many providers are coming up with brain development games for kids. It has been found that playful behavior helps positive development of the brain of the child.

Results of Animal Experiments

Experiments carried out by researchers and scientists on animals have proved that playing will improve memory and stimulate growth of the cerebral cortex in the anatomic system. The inspiration about brain development games emerged after an interesting paper was published by Mario Diamond exactly 50 years back in 1964. The findings of the neuroscientists were based on experiments conducted on a group of rats. Some of the rats were left in the boring as well as solitary…

While physical exercises offer a number of cognitive benefits for the people undergoing them but recess and relaxation has far greater benefit on human psychology and anatomy. When it comes to kids, games play a vital role in their personality development and that is why brain development games for kids are assuming great importance. They are becoming extremely popular among the parents, guardians, and also among various institutions imparting education and training to kids helping out in their overall personality development.

Impact of Environment

More than anything else it is the environment that can have great impact on the mental and physical development of any person. Playful and relaxing environment will help develop the cerebral cortex much better in comparison to the environments that bogs down the child. At the same time it is not a relaxation without activity but rather relaxation through activities that are more important. That is…

For this blog post I will begin to research what games have been around for children to help them learn. I will begin by researching into what is currently available for children for at home and at school in regards to educational game material. I will then look into what games have been effective in the past for children and compare and contrast what we have now to what was available then. I will look for games in particular with strong puzzle themes to link with my project idea so that I can implement any affective features within my game design. I will also briefly research into what children want in regards to the subject area so I can take this into account when designing content.
What games are available for children currently? Children of this age are in KS2 which varies between ages 7 to 11, I thought the…

I emailed some of my mom friends that have academically gifted children about toys. Since I am well aware of not knowing everything, I try to pull from my resources! Here is a recommendation from a mom of three boys- 7 years old, 6 years old, and a 3 years old.

Oh easy… we love Perplexus and Perplexus Jr.! The boys literally fought over these when we got them and they intrigue anyone from 5-105!

For those that enjoy handheld devices this is a good break from the ordinary screen driven world, but it will supply the same competitive results. It’s easy to understand- get the ball from the starting position to the end position without derailing the ball. Easy, right?? Wrong! Both my boys and husband got this before I was able to claim success. It requires critical thinking, hand-eye coordination, and a lot of patience. And even…

The other day a parent (thanks Alissa) told me about this toy. I am definitely going to get it for my son for the holidays- so we haven’t officially tested it. However, it has high reviews and seems that kids as young as 5 can figure out how to build circuits.

Create Working Electronic Circuits
Snap Circuits comes with over 30 pieces to create 101 different electronic projects. The pieces, which include snap wires, slide switches, an alarm circuit, a music integrated circuit, and a speaker, snap together easily on the included plastic grid–no soldering required. Each piece is numbered and color-coded to make identifying them easy. These components combine to create working circuit boards just like the ones found inside televisions, radios, and other electronic devices.

Ken Robinson has a very clear view on Divergent Thinking – he blames the educational system in today’s society, as everything is moving forward in the modern world but the educational system therefore decreasing the percentage of non divergent thinkers.

He says that they are finding ways to reform education for two reasons – economically and culturally but they are wondering how to educate the children for the 21st century economy, especially since it is always changing and cannot be predicted, but also how they can do this and still have their cultural stamp on the way they do it.

He also thinks that education is still stuck in the past and is alienating those children who don’t see the point in education. As in the past hard work lead to good grades, that then lead to college which resulted in a job. This is no longer the case as…